Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin is joining teammate Sidney Crosby on the All-Star injured list and will not be attending the festivities in Raleigh this coming weekend, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma told reporters Tuesday after the team's morning skate in preparation for their final game before the break.

Malkin will miss his third straight game Tuesday when the Penguins host the Islanders. Bylsma said he's out with a sinus infection/illness, but he has reportedly been bothered by a left knee injury as well.

"Evgeni Malkin was not out on the ice today and will not be in the game tonight," Bylsma told reporters at Consol Energy Center. "He will also not be going to the All-Star Game this coming week due to the sinus infection, illness -- he has symptoms that prevent him from going on the ice at this time. We'll continue to keep him off the ice.

NHL.com

Hemsky, second on the team with 29 points in 32 games, has missed the last two games due to a concussion. Eberle, who was one of 12 rookies invited to All-Star Weekend and was scheduled to participate in the Honday SuperSkills competition, has missed the last 10 games with an ankle injury. The 22nd pick of the 2008 Entry Draft has 23 points in 37 games.

Rookie forward Taylor Hall, the first pick of the 2010 Entry Draft, looks to be the club's sole representative at All-Star Weekend. Hall, like Eberle, is scheduled to take part in the skills contest.

All 30 superheroes in The Guardian Project to come to life

NHL.com

NEW YORK – Raleigh native Clay Aiken, multi-platinum selling rock band 3 Doors Down and the vocal quartet Canadian Tenors will perform at the 58th NHL® All-Star Game presented by Discover on Sunday, Jan. 30 in Raleigh, N.C. (4 p.m. ET, CBC, RDS, VERSUS, NHL Radio™), the NHL announced today. Aiken and the Canadian Tenors will perform the U.S. and Canadian national anthems, respectively, prior to the start of the game. 3 Doors Down will perform in the first intermission. The second intermission will feature a special on-ice presentation of all 30 superhero characters - each representing an NHL team - from The Guardian Project™.

As part of the pre-game festivities, the NHL will salute U.S. Cpt. Darin Sweet, a U.S. Army Reserve Soldier Hero and recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor. Cpt. Sweet is assigned to the U.S. Army Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command (USACAPOC) at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will miss the 2011 All-Star Game presented by Discover, but he said he's continuing to make progress from a concussion that has sidelined him for nearly three weeks.

Crosby was injured Jan. 5, when Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman checked Crosby into the boards during a game. Since then, Crosby said he's dealt with a sore neck and headaches, among other issues, but those symptoms have been getting less intense and less frequent.

"The good thing is the last four or five days have been pretty good," Crosby told reporters Monday in Pittsburgh. "But that's not to say that tomorrow could get more symptoms. It's one of those things that's really hard to gauge. I've been really happy with the way I've progressed the last four or five days and hopefully it keeps going that way and it (his return) will be sooner than later. But it's still pretty hard to tell."

Crosby has not been cleared for any physical activity, and already has been ruled out of Tuesday's game against the Islanders, which will be his ninth-straight on the sideline. And he won't be attending any of the All-Star Weekend festivities in Raleigh, N.C.

That's the way Doug Warf, the Carolina Hurricanes Senior Director of Marketing, described the anticipation among team employees and the city of Raleigh for the NHL All-Star Weekend once the calendar turned to January.

Much of that, he said, was spurred by team captain Eric Staal being voted one of the captains along with goalie Cam Ward being named to the team for the 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover, and rookie Jeff Skinner earning a spot in the Honda NHL SuperSkills competition.

The Hurricanes and the city's business community first started discussing the possibility of hosting the All-Star Game almost 10 years ago, said Scott Dupree, Vice President for Sports Marketing with the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau and a co-chair of Raleigh's local organizing committee to host the game.

"As a coach and parent with two kids that play youth hockey, I believe it's important to emphasize age-appropriate skills development to become not only better hockey players, but better athletes. The ADM is a step in the right direction towards this goal." --Peter Laviolette

Since the first NHL All-Star Game was held at Toronto's Maple Leafs Garden on Oct. 13, 1947, the format has changed a handful of times. In the time leading up to the 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover in Raleigh, N.C., which will be the 58th since the inaugural, the game has pitted the Stanley Cup champions against a team of all-stars and seen North America oppose the rest of the world. In the years leading up to this one, the game was a competition between the best players from the Eastern and Western conferences.

These changes are among the many that have infused the sport of hockey. But perhaps the most important, the most influential and the most exciting advancement is just beginning to take hold: the NHL's partnership with USA Hockey, particularly the increased support and widespread implementation of the American Development Model (ADM), a new philosophy in age-appropriate athlete development that overturns the traditional model of training for one emphasizing early generalization and late-seeded specialization. In other words, ADM creates athletes first, hockey players second.

Among the shortest defensemen in the NHL, the 5-foot-10 All-Star uses almost as long a stick as is permissible under NHL rules. Enstrom, who is tied for third in the League among defensemen in points with 40 entering Thursday's games, also prefers to let his game serve his premier form of self-expression.

In a poll of two of the Thrashers' four Swedes (not including Enstrom himself) as to what was the most interesting aspect about their countryman and teammate, both Johnny Oduya and Niclas Bergfors struggled with a response. Bergfors finally offered that Enstrom has a bit of a dry wit, a trait that rarely shows itself among media types.

No, Enstrom has become much better known this season for being the Butch Cassidy to defense partner and fellow All-Star Dustin Byfuglien's Sundance Kid.

Official NHL All-Star Fan Festival opens Jan. 28 at Convention Center

NEW YORK – The National Hockey League (NHL) and the Raleigh Convention Center will treat residents of the Triangle and visitors to Raleigh to the excitement of the 2011 NHL® All-Star Weekend with a full slate of fun activities and attractions at the three-day NHL Fan Fair™ fan festival. From Friday, Jan. 28 through Sunday, Jan. 30, fans of all ages will have no shortage of interactive games and experiences to choose from in the 150,000 square footage of space NHL Fan Fair will occupy in the Convention Center, including appearances from NHL All-Stars past and present, a display of 18 of hockey's most prized trophies including the Stanley Cup® and numerous contests and sweepstakes featuring prizes from vehicles to trips, and much more.

Now that Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and Carolina center Eric Staal have been named as the two captains for the 2011 NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover, they may be hearing from a lot of friends and making some new ones in the days leading up to the Jan. 28 NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft powered by Cisco where they, along with two alternates named a later date, will be in charge of filling out their rosters for the Jan. 30 game at RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.

"I've had a few texts from my brother [Rangers defenseman Marc Staal, also an All-Star], and a fellow Thunder Bay, [Ontario], boy, Patrick Sharp up in Chicago, sent me a text saying he wanted to be picked early," Staal said on NHL Network. "It has been some good ribbing, but it will be fun when it comes down to it on that Friday."

Sharp told reporters in Chicago, "Staal is from my hometown, so he better be drafting me, but I have a feeling he's going to make me wait it out."

EA SuperSkills event simulation videos

NEW YORK -- The National Hockey League today announced the details of the Honda NHL SuperSkills® and the format of the six events that will showcase hockey's top talent on Sat., Jan. 29, during 2011 NHL® All-Star Weekend in Raleigh.

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I don't have a crystal ball. Predicting is a real complicated thing. If we stay healthy, have enough depth and get the good goaltending we think we're going to have, you can go all the way. But a lot of things have to happen. There's going to be a lot of teams that think the same thing. Everyone made deals. We're all are optimistic about where we'll end up.

— Rangers general manager Glen Sather after being asked if he's constructed a team that can win the Stanley Cup before their 4-1 win against the Predators on Monday